The Interesting Case of Media Hype about Irma in Florida

As the much-hyped Irma dawns on Florida, we are told it’s actually a category 1 hurricane now—a much ado about nothing sorta revelation.

The week-long hype of a disastrous Category 5 hurricane called Irma, about to hit Florida, seems to be finally coming down as not more than what it really is—a hype.

The latest from The Guardian says Irma has hit west coast of Florida and is now a category 1 hurricane with winds less than 100 miles per hour.

But after all the exaggeration—likely meant to draw attention away from some real issues the media didn’t want people to see—it’s necessary for the hype-maintainers to give audiences some kind of serious damages; in this case it hasn’t created any serious damages, like knocking a whole neighborhood flat (or even a few strong ones).

So what media does now is tell you that a police officer and a prison guard had a crash during the Irma evacuation efforts and hence Irma has killed people. And if that isn’t enough, they also report the wind-flown hair of the reporters doing coverage for their channels in the storm zone.

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